You may not be familiar with the term leitmotif, but you are undoubtedly familiar with many of them.
If you’ve watched any movies or television shows in the last 30 years, you’ve heard more than a few leitmotifs and probably have some personal favorites. A leitmotif is a short, repeating musical phrase associated with a person, setting, emotion or theme. We might simply think of them as theme songs for particular characters.
Many leitmotifs are so well-known and so intertwined with the character they represent that to hear the song is to see the character and to see the character is to hear the song.
When we hear the foreboding sound of the “Imperial March,” we know Darth Vader is lurking somewhere in the darkness. With just a few low notes, we are motivated to avoid large bodies of water for fear of the great white menace from “Jaws.” When “The Raiders March” plays, we pay extra attention knowing Indiana Jones is about to do something amazing. And when we hear the aptly named song “The Avengers,” we watch and wait for The Avengers to assemble and save the day.
Without saying a word, leitmotifs convey important information. They inform us of the intentions, actions and quality of character of the subjects with whom they are associated. In a sense, they are the songs composed and performed through the living of their lives.
Music has played a vital role in Christian worship from the earliest days and continues to hold a very important place today. Few things inspire stronger feelings or more dogmatically held opinions than discussions about the songs we sing and hear in church.
This is in part because music connects with something deep inside our souls. Songs have a way of communicating who God is, what God has done and what God has promised. It’s why Paul in Ephesians 5:19 instructed his readers to speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs and to sing and make music from their hearts to the Lord.
We might say that a great many of our worship songs serve as leitmotifs for God himself. They are songs that remind us the main character in all of history is close at hand, working for his glory and our good and is continually saving the day.
Hymns like “Jesus Paid It All,” “A Mighty Fortress” and “Amazing Grace” and modern worship songs such as “God So Loved,” “Christ Is Enough” and “How Great is Our God” inspire us to lift our hearts and hands heavenward as we are reminded of the power and presence of God that continues to work in and for us.
Worship is more than the songs we sing. Worship is a song we live out loud every day. In Romans 12:1, Paul writes, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This is your true and proper worship.”
Our everyday actions and attitudes, the words we say, the things we do, the thoughts we think, are acts of worship. They provide the content that composes a song communicating what we truly believe.
It makes one wonder how does the leitmotif of our lives sound to others? What does it communicate to those who hear it? Is it a song that people are glad to hear or is the melody unpleasing to the ear? Does it encourage and uplift others in their souls or does it serve as a warning to walk away or hide?
Is it a song that speaks of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control or is it a song of selfish ambition and self-gratification? Do the leitmotifs of our lives paint a picture of Jesus, inspiring them to seek his face, or do our songs sound discordant and out of time with the content and character of his life?
The content and character of our lives are composing and performing a song each and every day. Those songs are often so loud that they overwhelm the words we say. We need to work diligently to make sure our character, our attitudes and actions and the affections of our heart align with what we want the world around us to see and hear from us. Your life might be the only song of worship some people hear today. Make it a song worth hearing.
The Rev. Jeremy Myers is the lead pastor of First Baptist Church in Seymour. Read his blog at jeremysmyers.com.